Unfortunately FF is the exact opposite of tactful or subtle. And Austria cloapsing isn't adile but neither was ww1.
Dosnt deal with the main issues wich is the balkens and how anything that happens there directly blows back into both Austria and russia.
During that period of the 20th Century when the USA and Britain looked to be engaging in a serious naval arms race, a senior USN officer (can't recall whom) pointed out that Britain had cut down on the sea all those who threatened their primacy in world trade: the Spanish; the Dutch; the French; the Germans - the inference being the USA might be next. It was inevitable that Britain would see Germany as a commercial & industrial rival, the naval arms war was just the most obvious adjunct.
The UK would never be lovely friends with Germany, but a policy could have been pursued that kept Russia as the top target for British paranoia.
It would have been true had Britain not crippled itself trough horrible losses, war weariness, huge debt and economic downturn thanks to fighting Germany. If the war was easier, quicker or cheaper there’s little doubt US and Britain would come to blows over one thing or another.
Only if German economy is not competing with Britain. Fleet or not, size and what not doesn’t matter. Germany threatened British income trough its industry and economy and had to be dealt with.
I would assume this choosing Russia starts with 1878 crisis. Perhaps Bismarck instead of a conference, proposes that "greater" Bulgaria be shrunk a bit to take it of the Mediterranean, and to take less of Macedonia to make it more palatable to England and Serbia . Bosnia gets autonomy but not Austrian occupation.
Probably one of the best idea !
Keep treaty of alliance that it had in the OTL.
Unfortunately there really isn't much Germany can do to help russia out in the russo-japanes war. Germany can't let Russia use it chines naval base because Japan well use it as a declaration of war automatically calling britan into it.
Yeah, I don't see the British winning that short of ASB. They'd strike painful blows, defeating the USN - at first - in the open waters of the North Atlantic, maybe pinprick strikes like bombarding Boston and/or New York, or even invading the Philippines, but all that would succeed in doing is make the USA see red. Within 2 years, tops, the Americans would simply stomp Canada flat after seizing the Caribbean, and in another two years, grind the Royal Navy to paste after building up a 3 or even 5:1 numerical advantage in battleships alone.
I never said they’d conquer America. Merely that an Imperialist Britain that didn’t suffer the products of the Great War would have been far more confrontation in their dealings with US. Even as allies that fought together, and collapses that followed WW1 a lot in the US saw Britain as the greatest threat.
By the 1890s the British Foreign Office had decided to never, ever, get on the bad side of the USA.
USA can afford to outbuild both, given the reason.
What Arms race with George’s cousin? We’re talking about Briton that never went trough the world war.
US is behind in quantity and quality. Far behind GB prior to WW1 and definitely would be the same if Britain never took part in said war. This isn’t Germany US is fighting where they can just whistle and build away until they are ready. 14+ inch shells will rain on New York, Newport and other places. Good luck building a ship under naval fire, blockade and possible invasions all while trying to build a navy and army at the same time.
RN steaming right from Halifax to New Jersey, Guns ablazing.
Britain would chuck Japan under a bus if the Anglo-Japanese Alliance threatened to drag GB into a US-Japan conflict. The view would be different if a pissed-off USA was avidly proposing war with GB.
OK - I should have pointed out that this was per OTL not ATL. If the naval arms race with Germany did not occur, Britain could afford a different arms race with the USA, but not as far as to overwhelm the USN and cause panic in DC. Would they look to maintain a superiority of numbers, or equality? Or enough to maintain a balance of naval power along with Japan? The latter would be risky as it may encourage Japanese ambitions on the other side of the world.
